Plot: In Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the evangelical Reverend Cotton Marcus was raised by his father to be a preacher. He agrees that the filmmaker Iris Reisen and the cameraman Daniel Moskowitz make a documentary about his life and he tells them that exorcisms are frauds but the results are good for the believers because they believe it is true. When Cotton is summoned by the farmer Louis Sweetzer to perform an exorcism on his daughter Nell, Cotton sees the chance to prove to the documentary crew what he has just told them - that the exorcisms are fake but because others believe in them, they have a healing effect. They head to Ivanwood and they have a hostile reception from Louis's son Caleb. Cotton performs the exorcism on Nell, exposing his tricks to the camera, but soon they learn that the dysfunctional Sweetzer family has serious problems.
The heroes: Reverend who is angry with God and who is more of a magician performing tricks than the actual exorcist.
The antagonists: Maybe a demon, maybe a human being. Equally dangerous, though.
What makes it so great? The documentary-inspired style and shaky camera - you never know what it may catch on frame during its frantic movements. Also Ashley Bell's performance as Nell - who curiously did all the weird body movements herself without use of CGI - is quite remarkable.
Best scene: The exorcism inter vined with Reverend showing us how he deceives his audience.
Oh-oh something's not right line: "That's all of us dead. I'm in the fire."
Scare factor:
- 3/5 evil pumpkins - The movie deals with seriously disturbing themes and its ending is very unsettling. Also there are a lot of creepy images and jump scares.Gore factor:
- 3/5 bloody Leatherfaces - Several gory moments and creepy body movements made by Nell which may make you cringe. Is there a twist? Several. We keep going back and forth as the main hero tries to determine whether Nell is actually possessed or she is just lying. There is also seriously shocking ending.
Hint: Watch it in a dark room with volume high up.
Unsuitable for: People who perform fake exorcism for a living.
Repercussions: Fear of every single shy looking girl - that she will launch herself on you, suddenly and with a scary scream.
What a great way of reviewing films. I am loving your rating system Sati!! Maximum props there!!
ReplyDeleteI am not a horror fan. I am a big hairy scaredy bear!! I can't cope very well with things like these, but I enjoyed the read!
Thanks so much! :) I love emoticons so I always look for ways to make them useful.
ReplyDeleteGreat review and really fun blog!
ReplyDeleteI found The Last Exorcism to be a fun movie with the exception of the aggravating ending.
thanks! :)
DeleteReally unique write up. This movie served as salvation after I saw the god-awful The Devil Inside. I really dug the ballsiness of the lead character and how it cross cut that first "exorcism" with how he was planning to stage it. Not a great movie by any means, but good for the genre.
ReplyDeleteDefinetly, it was really nice to finally see some strong characters in the horror film. However I heard they are making a sequel...it's kinda a shame since ambiguous ending was one of the best parts of the original.
DeleteCompletely agree, better to just leave it alone.
DeleteJust found your blog and enjoy your angle. I just caught this one on Saturday myself.
ReplyDeleteOverall, I had a decent time...especially for a PG-13 horror flick.